Part 4 - Stopovers
Basics
Besides transfers mentioned in the previous part of the article, there is also a concept called stopovers which commonly refer to layovers that are equal to or longer than 24 hours unless specified otherwise in the fare rule by the airline.
By utilizing the stopover policy in the fare rules, we may potentially add another destination to our iternary and explore a city in-depth instead of just transiting through.
Example
Consider the following iternary:
Flight iternary with Air Macau from ICN to DMK via MFM
SEL NX X/MFM NX BKK 198.53ROWKR2 NUC 198.53 END ROE 1385.126955 XT 17.50BP 3.70MO 1.00E7 0.40G8 32.00YR
2 STOPOVERS PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION.
This iternary has a layover in MFM and uses the ROWKR2 fare rule. As we can see in the stopover restriction section of the fare rule, it allows for up to 2 stopovers for each direction (even though it's an one-way fare).
Beacause of this, we can try to add a stopover in MFM at no extra charge (except local tax) to explore Macau on the way to Bangkok and form the iternary below.
Flight iternary with Air Macau from ICN to DMK with a stopover at MFM
SEL NX MFM NX BKK 198.53ROWKR2 NUC 198.53 END ROE 1385.126955 XT 17.50BP 3.70MO 13.70WN 1.00E7 0.40G8 32.00YR
If we look closely to the fare construction data of both iternary, we can see that they both uses ROWKR2 fare rule and the only difference is that the iternary that includes the stopover has an extra tax called Macao Passenger Service Charge (WN). The price of both iternaries are the same if we ignore the WN tax.
Extra Perks
Stopover Package
Similar to perks mentioned in the transfer part of this article, an airline may also offer stopover packages that may include ground transportation and/or discounted hotel rates and/or etc.
Stopover Package from Qatar Airways 1